Autonomous system to assist consumers to select colors

ABSTRACT

An autonomous App for selecting color is disclosed. The App includes (i) receiving an oral query concerning a color from a user, (ii) converting the oral query into a digital signal, (iii) associating the queried color with indicia of said queried color in a color database, and (iv) communicating an oral response to the user based on the queried color. The App resides in a general computing machine, such as a smart phone, a smart speaker or a computer tablet. The App can also guide the user to color merchandises on a color display by the general computing machine capable of augmenting an image of the color display with color information.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to an apparatus and a method ofassisting consumers to locate and select paint colors at the point ofsale (POS).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Locating a color at a paint store by its name can be frustrating,because there exists no user-friendly or direct connection from a colorname to the color itself or its color chip. A consumer may look up coloridentification indicia with a color name on a printed index at the backof a fan deck comprising hundreds of color chips or by using the paintstore's software to tint paint or the paint store's retail POS software,if it is loaded with relevant information.

Selecting paint colors can be intimidating and cumbersome for consumersuntrained in color theories. Color displays at paint stores or hardwarestores contain multiple hundreds of color chips arranged in varioushues, saturations and values with little explanation as to where tobegin or where the desired color chips are located on the display.Consumers are often unsure what color libraries are available and whichlibrary has the color combination or palette that they need. Often paintstore employees are also not trained in color theories, and interiordesigners are not available, or not available sufficiently to assistconsumers.

There remains a need for a system that interacts with consumers andguides the consumers through some or all of the color selection processwith or without assistance from the store employees or designers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Hence, the invention is directed to an autonomous software application(“App”) for selecting colors.

The invention is also directed to an App that includes the steps of (i)receiving an oral query concerning a color from a user, (ii) convertingthe oral query into a digital signal, (iii) associating the queriedcolor with indicia of said queried color in a color database, and (iv)communicating an oral response to the user based on the queried color.The App resides in a general computing machine, such as a smart phone, asmart speaker or a computer tablet. The App can also guide the user tocolor merchandises on a color display by the general computing machinecapable of augmenting an image of the color display with colorinformation.

The App may incorporate an augmented reality (AR) and/or virtual reality(“VR”) color finder to assist the consumer with locating the selectedcolor and the recommended colors, discussed above, on color display 10.In this embodiment, color display 10 is displayed or reproduced on adigital screen via a camera feed augmented with digitally added virtualelements like indicators pointing or highlighting to the locations ofthe selected/recommended colors on the color display, as well asdisplaying related color information. The screen can be the screen froma smart phone or computer tablet, and the screen may also be the lensesof a pair of VR glasses. A cross-hair, an arrow, a pointing index fingeror other sign/indicator(s) may point to the locations of theselected/recommended color(s).

The present invention is directed to an autonomous method for selectingcolor comprising the steps of:

(i) receiving an oral query concerning a color from a user,

(ii) converting the oral query into a digital signal,

(iii) associating the queried color with indicia of said queried colorin a color database,

(iv) communicating an oral response to the user based on the queriedcolor, wherein said autonomous method is a software App residing in ageneral computing machine.

The autonomous may further comprise the step of

(v) guiding the user to one or more color merchandises relating to thequeried color. This guiding step may (a) include the step ofcommunicating another oral response of a coordinate of the one or morecolor merchandises to the user; (b) include the step of highlighting theone or more color merchandises to the user; and/or (c) includeaugmenting an image of said one or more color merchandises on a screenof said general computing device with a virtual color space and anindicator showing the queried color.

In step (v)(c), the virtual color space zooms and/or rotates tosynchronize with said image. The one or more color merchandises maycomprise at least two marker points and the virtual color space maycomprise at least two corresponding virtual markers, and the virtualcolor space and said image are synchronized when the marker points andthe virtual markers are matched.

The autonomous method of claim 1 further comprising one or more of thefollowing steps:

(vi) receiving another oral query from the user concerning one or morecolors that match with the queried color;

(vii) receiving another oral response from the user concerning anapplication for the queried color;

(viii) communicating another oral to the user with one or morerecommended colors, and/or

(ix) displaying a room scene to the user.

step (ix) may include coloring said room scene with at least one of thequeried color and one or more recommended colors.

The present invention is further directed to another autonomous methodfor assisting a user to locate one or more colors on a color displaycomprising the steps of

(i) obtaining an image of the color display on a digital computer screenheld by the user;

(ii) augmenting said image with a virtual color space and at least oneindicator showing said one or more colors;

(iii) rotating and/or zooming the virtual color space to synchronize thevirtual color space to said image as the user moves relative to thecolor display;

wherein the color display comprises at least two marker points and thevirtual color space comprises at least two corresponding virtualmarkers, and wherein virtual color space and said image are synchronizedwhen the marker points and the virtual markers are matched.

This autonomous method may further comprise step (iv) of repeating step(iii) as the user moves relative to the color display and/or (v)predicting the consumer's movement by triangulating the at least twomarker points and the user.

The present invention also includes a general computing devicecomprising said digital computer screen and capable of performing theautonomous methods described herein. The general computing device mayinclude at least one of a pair of virtual reality glasses, a smart phoneor a computer tablet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification andare to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like referencenumerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary color display for a paint store;

FIG. 2 is flowchart summarizing an inventive autonomous App;

FIG. 3 is another flowchart illustrating another aspect of theautonomous App;

FIGS. 4-7 are representations of a virtual color space being viewed atvarious angle;

FIG. 8 is a top schematic view of a consumer located at various angleviewing the exemplary color display;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the various vectors or angles that aconsumer may approach the exemplary color display; and

FIG. 10 is a top schematic view of a consumer located at variousdistances from the exemplary color display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides an autonomous process and apparatus toaid consumers or users when the consumers walk into a point of sale forpaints, which can be retail paint stores or the paint department inhardware stores or in large do-it-yourself (DIY) centers. The inventiveautonomous process can be software, firmware, or software applications(App or Apps) that receives inputs, preferably voice inputs, from theconsumers or users and communicates outputs, preferably voice outputs,virtual reality (VR) and/or augmented reality (AR) to assist theconsumers and the inventive apparatus can be a general computing devicethat stores the autonomous process, such as a smart phone, a computertablet, a laptop, a desktop, a pair of VR glasses or a smart speakerwith Internet connectivity to a cloud storage.

In an embodiment, the App is housed in a smart phone, a computer tablet,a smart speaker or VR glasses, as discussed below. The App can bedownloaded to the smart phone/tablet in the paint store or at any timeprior to the visit to the paint store. Alternatively, the App may residein the cloud storage and a smart speaker can access the App as well asdata from the cloud. As used herein, a smart speaker can be a Bluetoothor Wi-Fi speaker that has a microprocessor, a receiver for receiving aconsumer's commands or questions and a speaker to communicate responsesto the consumer. The smart speaker is connected to the Internet and thecloud storage via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cables. Smart speakers arecommercially available as Amazon.com's Echo devices or Google Homedevices, which can be re-programed to work with the inventive App, orsmart speakers can also be built to be used with the App and thedesignated cloud storage. Alternatively, the App may reside in acomputer or laptop in the paint store and be uploaded to the consumer'ssmart phone or tablet via mini-USB cable, micro-USB cables or Apple®'sLighting cables. The smart phone or tablet may also communicate with thein-store computer via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi instead of cloud storage.Hereinafter, the term App includes the software/App and the device(s)that the App resides on.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the App receives aquery from the consumer about a specific color and can direct theconsumer to the location of a color chip representing that color in aphysical color display. The App can direct the consumer to the colordisplay and identify the location of the color chip for example by therow and column numbers, as illustrated in FIG. 1 . As shown, physicalcolor display 10 is preferably a part of an upright cabinet that has anarray of pockets or slots 12 arranged in rows 14 and columns 16. Eachpocket or slot 12 contains at least one color chip and preferablymultiple copies of the color chip. When a consumer asks for a particularcolor, the App receives the verbal query about a specific color andtranslates it to a digital signal, and preferably uses a look up table(LUT) to locate the position of the queried color on color display 10.As stated above, the App may via the built-in speaker in the smart phoneor smart speaker identify the row and column of the color chip to theconsumer. Alternatively or additionally, the App may direct a lightsource, such as a focused LED light, mounted proximate to color display10 to shine on the queried or selected color on the color display.

In another embodiment, the consumer may further ask the App additionalquestions relating to the queried color. In one example, the consumermay ask the App what colors go with the queried color. The App then mayengage the consumer in an interaction that may include asking theconsumer the application or planned use of the queried color, i.e., thetype of room where the queried color would be applied. In one example,if the consumer provides a particular application for the queried color,the App may provide a color palette with colors that are harmonious withthe queried color. The App may also provide a recommendation as to thetype of paints for that application, e.g., low VOC, longer open time,high scrubability, durability, etc. The App may specifically identityfor example the recommended paints' brand names, premium or economicalpaints, and manufacturer's names. In another example, the customer mayrequest additional information about the popularity or common uses of aspecific color or set of colors, e.g., “how often is this color used indining rooms in Boston?”

If the consumer does not wish to provide an application for the queriedcolor, the App may offer popular colors that are harmonious with thequeried color, or colors that are often purchased with the queriedcolor, or colors that have the similar color emotions as the queriedcolor.

The colors recommended by the App may be preselected by color experts ordesigners, or may be based on classical color wheel theories, such ascomplementary colors, triad colors, split complementary colors, splittriad colors, etc. The recommended colors may also vary in hue,saturation or value (lightness) from the queried color. The recommendedcolors may be harmonious with the queried color or have similar coloremotions as the queried colors based on human psychophysical reactions,which are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,427,498 and 9,134,179 and U.S.patent application publication no. US 2015/0268098. These references areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Notwithstanding whether the consumer provides an application for thequeried color, the App may probe to determine whether the consumer needsadditional guidance. In one example, the App may ask whether theconsumer would like to see sample room scenes with the queried color andrecommended colors applied to the sample room scene. Alternatively oradditionally, the App may ask the consumer whether the consumer hasdigital photograph(s) of the consumer's room(s) and whether the consumerwants to load such photograph(s) to the App.

If the App is deployed on a smart phone or a device with a touch screen,then the App may ask the consumer to drag a color, which can be thequeried color or a recommended color, to a particular surface to “paint”the room scene, and repeat this process until all the surfaces arepainted. The consumer may change the color of a surface in the roomscene by dragging a different color to that surface.

If the App is deployed on a smart speaker, the App may display the roomscene on a computer display or television screen in the store and maylabel the different surfaces in the room scene with unique label, andthe App can receive instructions from the consumer as to which colorshould paint which surface. The computer display or television screenmay also have touch screen capability, which would allow the consumer todrag colors to surfaces.

The App may also advise the consumer what colors are trending in thehome déecor market, such as trending colors for colonial bathrooms ortraditional colors for a saltbox home's exterior. The App may also addcolors to a shopping list, order wet or dry color samples or orderpaints.

After the consumer has selected a color palette, the App may show theconsumer the location of the selected colors on color display 10, eitherby rows and columns or by highlighting the locations of the color chipson color display 10. The App may also send the selected color paletteand/or the painted room scene to the consumer's smart phone, emailaccount, and/or the consumer's social media such as Facebook, Pinterest,etc.

An exemplary flow chart representing the App is shown in FIG. 2 . Toconserve computing power, the App is normally in a sleep mode and isconfigured to listen only for one or more wake-up word. An exemplarywake-up word is “Betty” for Betty Moore, who was a fictitiousspokesperson that for a number of years was used by the Benjamin MooreCompany.

In step 20, the App would detect the wake-up word, and replies in step22 to the consumer that the App is activated. The consumer's query isreceived by the App in step 24. In step 26 the App translates orconverts the oral query into digital signal and determines preferablyfrom a LUT and/or a color database 28 the color indicia, such as colornumber, color emotion scores, color collection/library and the locationof the corresponding color chip(s) on color display 10.

In step 30, the App sends preferably through a speaker a response to theconsumer's query, which may include the library or collection that thequeried color belongs, the location of the corresponding color chip oncolor display 10 and where paint samples or other color merchandise canbe found. In step 32, the App may optionally ask the consumer whetherthe consumer needs assistance in locating the queried color, for exampleby highlighting the display or the row/column of the queried color oncolor display 10 in step 34.

In another embodiment, if the consumer asks further advice, such as whatcolors go with the queried color, e.g., harmonious with the queriedcolor, having similar hue or saturation or having similar color emotionsdiscussed above, in step 36, then the App could ask the consumer for theintended application of the queried color in step 38.

If the consumer provides a room where the queried color would be appliedin step 40, the App could consult with the color database 28 and/or theregional analytics database 42 and in step 44 communicates to theconsumer the recommended color(s) and the recommended paint, e.g.,Natura® premium, low-VOC paints. Regional analytics database 42 mayinclude information, such as the color trends in certain regions, suchas Southwest, Pacific Northwest, New England, etc.; popular colors thatare sold together with the queried color; or popular colors that areselected in the same palettes with the queried color.

If the consumer does not provide an application for the queried color,in step 46 the App could still provide recommended colors based on thequeried color and the regional analytics database in step 46.

After the recommended colors are communicated in either step 44 or step46, the App may ask the consumer whether to view sample room scene or toupload digital photographs or other rendering of the consumer's ownroom(s) in step 48. If the consumer does not want to see room scene, theApp should revert to step 32 to ascertain whether the consumer needsassistance in locating color chips or other color merchandise for therecommended colors. If the consumer wants to see the room scene, thenthe App in step 50 displays the room scene(s) either from a room imagedatabase 52 or from the consumer's photograph(s). As discussed above,step 50 may allow the consumer to choose what color paints what wallsurface in the room scene.

The App may perform other steps or functions, such as extracting a colorpalette from a photograph or a painting or a famous painting. As shownin FIG. 3 , the App may be activated and may confirm its activation bysteps 20 and 22, and databases 28, 42 and 52 may be consulted. Theconsumer may pair the App with other software or applications in step 54and the App then makes such connection in step 56. The other software orapplications may include sending the requested photographs and roomrequirements, as shown in steps 48 and 50. If the consumer selects animage or photograph in step 58 and requests the identification of colorsin the requested photograph(s) in step 60, then the App may extract thecolors from the photograph in step 62 and displays the identification ofthe colors in step 64. Some or all of the steps shown in FIG. 2 and inFIG. 3 can be used in with each other.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the App mayincorporate an augmented reality (AR) and/or virtual reality (“VR”)color finder to assist the consumer with locating the selected color andthe recommended colors, discussed above, on color display 10. In thisembodiment, color display 10 is displayed or reproduced on a digitalscreen via a camera feed augmented with digitally added virtual elementslike indicators pointing or highlighting to the locations of theselected/recommended colors on the color display, as well as displayingrelated color information. The screen can be the screen from a smartphone or computer tablet, and the screen may also be the lenses of apair of VR glasses. A cross-hair, an arrow, a pointing index finger orother sign/indicator(s) may point to the locations of theselected/recommended color(s).

The augmented reality capability is accomplished by including aplurality of position or marker points on the physical color display 10.The digital screens or glasses use photo sensors, such as digitalcameras typically included in the tablets or smart phones, to display alive image of the color display 10 and would use recognition softwareand/or sensors, described below, to identify the marker points on thephysical color display (10). Once the marker points are identified, theApp by using additional software, also described below, can calculatethe size of and distance to the color display 10, and by using apredetermined map of the locations of the color chips in color display10 the App can highlight or locate the selected/recommended color (s).In an augmented reality setting, the view of the color display would bea live image of the display with the color chip locator layered onto theimage. The live image of the actual color display may also be overlappedby a virtual color space with the color chip locator layered thereon.The locations of the color chips in color display 10 would be the sameas the locations of the colors in the virtual color space.

Referring to FIG. 1 , position or marker points A, B, C and/or D areassigned to color display 10. It is well known that three points inspace define a rectilinear plane. However, since color display 10 wouldgenerally be positioned in a vertical orientation in a paint storeincorporated on to an upright cabinet or other furniture, two markerpoints (or more) are needed to help locate the color chips in theaugmented reality display. As shown, markers A and B are preferablylocated on a substantially horizontal straight line, and are used hereinfor the purpose of discussing the augmented reality feature based on ahorizontal distance. However, markers A and D and markers B and D can beused, so long that the marker pairs have a horizontal distance betweenthem. Markers A and C can be used for vertical distance and likewisemarkers, A and D, B and C, and B and D can be used, since they have avertical distance between them. Although four marker points areillustrated in FIG. 1 , any number of marker points can be used.

Referring to FIG. 4 , a virtual color space 10′ is created on thetablet/phone screen or VR glasses, where each rectangular element onvirtual color space 10′ matches or corresponds to a color chip on colordisplay 10. Virtual markers A′, B′, C′ and/or D′ are marked on virtualcolor space 10′ at locations corresponding the actual marker points A,B, C and D. An optical sensor, preferably a digital camera, may bepointed at the color display 10, which fills the digital screen or VRglasses with a live image of the color chips on color display 10. TheApp superimposes virtual color space 10′ on top of the live image ofcolor display 10. When two or more virtual markers on color space 10′and corresponding markers on color display 10 match each other, colorspace 10 and virtual color space 10′ are synchronized. Virtual colorspace 10′ can be zoomed in or zoomed out and/or rotate to synchronize.The location of the selected/recommended color(s) on virtual color space10′ is highlighted with an indicator 66, such as a cross-hair, checkmark, or a pointer. Indicator 66 would also superimpose on the colorchip on the image of color display 10 that corresponds to theselected/recommended color(s). One or more indicator 66 can be used, andone specific indicator, e.g., cross-hair, can be used for the selectedcolor and another indicator, e.g., check mark, can be used to therecommended color(s).

Marker points A, B, C, and/or D on color display 10 illustrated in FIG.1 can be any device or material that facilitates their detection by thedigital camera or other optical sensors. These marker points canpreferably be relatively small, e.g., significantly smaller than thedimensions of a color chip. Radio frequency identification (RFID)devices that respond to a RF query by broadcasting a return RF signalcan be marker points. The VR glasses or smart table/phone can beequipped to send a RF query. Alternatively, infrared (IR) frequencydevices that broadcast IR signals at known wavelengths that are readableby the VR glasses or smart table/phone can be marker points.Alternatively, the marker points A, B, C, and/or D can be unique coloredLEDs or other visible/invisible electromagnetic radiation that arereadable by the VR glasses and smart tablet/phone.

The horizontal distances, as well as vertical distances under certainsituations, between marker points A, B, C and/or D may appear shorterdepending on the viewing angle of the consumer. It the consumer standsto the left or far left of color display 10, the right side of colordisplay 10 would appear smaller is size than the left side due to theoff-center perspective view. FIG. 5 illustrates this effect when theconsumer stands to the left of color display 10. FIG. 6 illustrates thiseffect when the consumer stands more to the left and FIG. 7 shows whatthe consumer may see from the far left. A similar but opposite effectwould occur if the consumer moves or stands to the right. Forsimplicity, the present invention is discussed only with the consumerstands or moves to the left. Rightward movements can be easilyunderstood from the descriptions below.

As discussed above, when the consumer stand substantially in front andcenter of color display 10, as illustrated in FIG. 4 , the App can zoomin or out virtual color space 10′ to synchronize the marker points A, B,C and/or D to the virtual markers A′, B′, C′ and/or D′ by expanding orreducing the area of virtual color space 10′ proportionally until themarker points and the virtual markers overlap. However, as illustratedin FIGS. 5-7 , the color space assumes a trapezoidal shape when theconsumer moves or is positioned to the left (or right). Hence, expandingor shrinking virtual color space 10′ alone would not synchronize themarker points to the virtual markers.

The present invention resolves this issue by optionally matching onemarker point to one virtual marker, e.g., A and A′, and by rotating thevirtual color space 10′ in this example, clockwise until another markerpoint matches a virtual marker, e.g., B and B′ or D and D′. Once themarkers are synchronized, the selected and recommended colors can behighlighted by indicators 66.

In a preferred embodiment, the App is autonomous and is able to decidewhether to zoom in or out, or to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise orboth to synchronize the marker points to the virtual markers. In oneembodiment of the present invention, a triangulation technique isemployed. This triangulation uses two marker points, e.g., A and B, andthe location of the consumer with the AR glasses or smart tablet/phone,which is set at the digital camera lens, labeled as “χ” in FIGS. 8-10 .The AR glasses or smart tablet/phone would also have a distance orproximity sensor that can measure distance from the digital camera lensto the marker points A, B. The AR glasses or smart tablet/phonetypically would also have gyroscope or accelerometer to determine thedirection that the devices points. Smart phones and tablets use thisfeature to support a compass app commonly available in such devices.Such distance or proximity sensors are used to measure the distance froma golf tee/fairway/sand trap to a flag on the putting green. When theleft distance, Dl, from χ to marker point A is substantially the same asthe right distance, D_(r), to marker point B, as illustrated at point P₁in FIG. 8 , then the App would know that virtual color space 10′ onlyneeds to be zoomed in or out to synchronize with an image of color space10 on the screen.

If the consumer stands to the left at position P₂, then D_(r)>Dl and theApp would also rotate to synchronize. At position P₃, the App wouldrotate more, and at position P₄, where D_(r)>>Dl the App would know torotate virtual color space 10′ even more. The amount of rotation dependson the difference (Δ) between D_(r) and Dl. Higher ΔD requires morerotation. Also, D_(r)>Dl requires clockwise rotation, as shown in FIG. 8, and D_(r)<Dl requires counterclockwise rotation. Hence, the inventiveautonomous App can self-adjust to synchronize the virtual markers to themarker points to highlight the selected/recommended colors to theconsumers on the screen, notwithstanding the position of the consumersrelative to the color display 10.

In accordance to another embodiment of the present invention, the Appmay highlight the selected or recommended colors as the consumer istraveling or walking toward color display 10 in the paint store. Inother words, the App may dynamically adjust virtual color space 10′while the consumer is moving toward color display 10 or while walkingaround the paint store. The App may anticipate which way to adjustvirtual color space 10′ based on the consumer's motions. In other words,the App would try to keep up so that virtual color space 10′ follows theimage of color display 10 moves on the screen, while the consumer moves.FIG. 9 illustrates that the consumer represented as “χ” may take pathsthat are in the Z-direction parallel to color display 10, in theY-direction orthogonal to color display 10, or in a diagonal directionthat has a Z-component and a Y-component.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 10 , the angle theta (θ) is defined as theangle between D_(r) and Dl or the distances from χ to two marker points,such as A and B. FIG. 8 shows the changes in angle θ as χ moves awayfrom the center at P₁ to the left toward P₄. Angle θ has its highestvalue or maxima when χ is substantially between the two marker points Aand B and decreases as χ moves leftward, as shown in FIG. 8 , orrightward long the Z-direction. Hence, if the rate of change of angle θis negative, i.e., θ is decreasing then the user χ is moving in theZ-direction. Additionally, if D_(r) is longer than Dl then χ is movingto the left, and vice versa. In another example, if the angle θincreases to a maxima and then decreases, then the App knows that theconsumer is traversing across color display 10 from left-to-right orright-to-left. Hence, by monitoring the rate of change of θ as afunction of Z-direction (dθ/dZ) and the relative distances D_(r) and Dl,the App could predict the consumer's next position and rotate virtualcolor space 10′ accordingly ahead to minimize synchronization time.

Similarly, the angle θ increases as both distances D_(r) and Dl decreasewhen the consumer approaches color display 10 in the Y-direction, asshown in FIG. 10 . The App may also monitor these parameters and mayanticipate whether to zoom in or zoom out to minimize response time forsynchronization.

An advantage of having a predictive capability is that the App canrotate and zoom virtual color space 10′ along with the moving image ofcolor display 10 as it is displayed on the VR glasses or the screen ofthe smart table/phone, even when the App is not yet able to position orre-position indicators 66 on the selected/recommended colors. Thispredictive capability provides a better experience and feedback for theconsumers.

Referring back to FIG. 8 , the angle θ at point P₄ can be expressed as:sin θ=(orthogonal distance from point A to distance D _(r))/distance Dlbased on the trigonometry function of sine. The angle φ between linesegment AB and D_(r) assin φ=(orthogonal distance from point A to distance D _(r))/AB.A simple substitution to eliminate this orthogonal distance yieldssin θ=(sin φ·AB)/Dl).Since, sin⁻¹(sin θ)=θ, for −π/2≤θ≤π/2,θ=sin⁻¹((sin φ·AB)/Dl).

In this equation, the angle θ is expressed in term of φ and Dl. Dl canbe directly measured by sensor as discussed above, and the angle φ isformed on one side by a known, fixed line segment AB, and on the otherside by segment D_(r), whose orientation/direction on the Y-Z plane canbe measured by sensor as discussed above.

Alternatively, the angle θ can be derived from the measured segments Dland D_(r) and their orientations and angles relative to line segment ABon the Y-Z plane, preferably with the measurement uncertainties beingminimized.

In another embodiment, with the predictive capability virtual colorspace 10′ may appear to bounce as the consumer walks toward colordisplay 10. Virtual color space 10′ may zoom in and out and may rotateback and forth based on the App's prediction of the consumer'smovements, until virtual color space 10′ settles on a position relativeto color display 10 and display indicators 66.

As discussed above and shown in FIGS. 4-7 , the virtual color space 10′is shown as a grid comprising cells created by vertical and horizontallines with each cell corresponds to a color chip in color display 10. Itis noted that these lines may have a lighter line weight or be displayedas broken lines and these lines may be hidden, i.e., not shown in someembodiments.

While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the inventiondisclosed herein fulfill the objectives stated above, it is appreciatedthat numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised bythose skilled in the art. Therefore, it will be understood that theappended claims are intended to cover all such modifications andembodiments, which would come within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

We claim:
 1. An autonomous method for assisting a user to locate one ormore colors on a color display to be executed on a general computingdevice, said autonomous method comprises steps of: obtaining an image ofthe color display on a digital computer screen on the general computingdevice held by the user; augmenting said image with a virtual colorspace and at least one indicator showing said one or more colors;rotating and zooming the virtual color space to synchronize the virtualcolor space to said image as the user moves relative to the colordisplay; wherein the color display comprises at least two marker pointsand the virtual color space comprises at least two corresponding virtualmarkers, and wherein the virtual color space and said image aresynchronized when the marker points and the virtual markers are matched;wherein the rotating and zooming step comprises matching one markerpoint to one virtual marker and rotating the virtual color space untilanother marker point matches another virtual marker.
 2. The autonomousmethod of claim 1 further comprising the step of repeating step ofrotating and zooming the virtual color space to synchronize the virtualcolor space to said image as the user moves relative to the colordisplay.
 3. The autonomous method of claim 1 further comprising the stepof predicting the consumer's movement by triangulating the at least twomarker points and the user.
 4. The autonomous method of claim 3, whereinthe triangulation step utilizes a first distance between the user andone of the marker points and a second distance between the user and theother marker point.
 5. The autonomous method of claim 4 furthercomprising a step of predicting the user's motion relative to the colordisplay, wherein an angle (θ) is defined between said first and saidsecond distance, wherein the predicting step utilizes a rate of changeangle (θ) along a direction (z) parallel to the color display (dθ/dz),said first distance and said second distance.
 6. The autonomous methodof claim 1, wherein the general computing device comprises a pair ofvirtual reality glasses.
 7. The autonomous method of claim 1, whereinthe general computing device comprises a smart phone or a computertablet.
 8. The autonomous method of claim 1 for assisting the user tolocate one or more colors and further comprising a method for selectingcolors, which comprises steps of: receiving an oral query concerning acolor from a user, converting the oral query into a digital signal,associating the queried color's digital signal with indicia of saidqueried color in a color database, communicating an oral response to theuser based on the queried color, wherein said autonomous method is asoftware App residing in the general computing machine.
 9. Theautonomous method of claim 8 further comprising step of: guiding theuser to one or more color merchandises relating to the queried color.10. The autonomous method of claim 9, wherein the step of guiding theuser to the one or more color merchandises relating to the queried colorincludes step of communicating another oral response of a coordinate ofthe one or more color merchandises to the user.
 11. The autonomousmethod of claim 9, wherein the step of guiding the user to the one ormore color merchandises relating to the queried color includes step ofhighlighting the one or more color merchandises to the user.
 12. Theautonomous method of claim 8 further comprising step of: receivinganother oral query from the user concerning one or more colors thatmatch with the queried color.
 13. The autonomous method of claim 12further comprising step of: receiving another oral response from theuser concerning an application for the queried color.
 14. The autonomousmethod of claim 12 further comprising step of: communicating anotheroral to the user with one or more recommended colors.
 15. The autonomousmethod of claim 1 further comprising step of: displaying a room scene tothe user.
 16. The autonomous method of claim 15 wherein the step ofdisplaying a room scene to the user further includes coloring said roomscene with at least one of the queried color and one or more recommendedcolors.
 17. The autonomous method of claim 16, wherein said room sceneis obtained from a room image database.
 18. The autonomous method ofclaim 16, wherein said room scene is provided by the user.